The Eleven Meme

I was nominated by Marsha Ratzel to participate in this meme a couple of weeks ago. So, here it goes!

11 “Random” Facts about Me:

  1. My husband is from England and has an an amazing accent still, even though he’s been in the US for almost 15 years. All of his family still lives there. Also, we planned our wedding in three weeks. It was exciting, and I totally recommend doing it that way!
  2. In high school, I was in chorus, band, and drama. I feel sad for kids these days who have to choose just one.
  3. I received the Disney Dreamers and Doers Award when I was in high school It was to recognize students who ”possess the qualities of curiosity, confidence, courage and constancy.”
  4. I love science fair! I went to the Florida Science and Engineering Fair my junior and senior years in high school. It’s so cool that as a teacher I have been able to share science fair with my students and now have taken students to the Georgia Science and Engineering Fair!
  5. I am creative and logical; it’s an interesting but unusual combination. My teammate at school teases me about it because she thinks it’s funny how I can be so scientific and logical and creative. She says it’s not fair. 😉
  6. I love caves and tunnels. I think being underground is really cool, but I grew up in a part of Florida with no caves.
  7. When I stare at a full moon, I dream about visiting there someone day. I am also pretty convinced I’ll make it to space someday, somehow.
  8. I’ve gone to Space Academy, Advanced Space Academy, and flown in microgravity. I watched the final two flights of Atlantis lift off from the press site. I watched the rocket carrying Curiosity lift off from the press site. I’ve visited Mission Control for both the ISS and the shuttle during missions and walked on the floor of the historic Apollo MOCR. Now, we’re getting ready to talk to an astronaut on the space station with the students at my school some time later this year. I love the stars and am only slightly obsessed with space.
  9. I have a golden retriever named Devon (after Devonshire cream due to his creamy golden color) and two cats named Newton (after Sir Isaac) and Halley (of comet fame). What’s really interesting is that after deciding to name my cats after these two scientists, I found out that Edmond Halley helped fund some of Isaac Newton’s research.
  10. I live to draw and paint. Recently, I’ve been learning how to draw phrases with hand drawn typography.
  11. I am a Doctor Who fan. It’s funny because I remember some of my friends talking about Doctor Who when I was in high school, but I never watched it. Then I married a Brit and there was new Who, and the rest is history!

Questions generated by Marsha for me to answer:

  1. If you were going to go out to eat what kind of restaurant would you pick?  Chinese, Italian, Mexican or New American I’d probably choose Italian because I love penne alla vodka, but it would reallly depend on my mood.
  2. What non-teaching book has you really excited to read?  I’m sure you have a big pile of TO READs so pick just the best one. I love to read. I’m usually searching for the next book to read and don’t really have a pile. I love my Kindle! I’ve been wanting to re-read Contact by Carl Sagan for ages. I have the actual paperback, but I’m wishing it was available for Kindle.
  3. Who has had the biggest impact on your teaching practice? And who has altered the way you think about teaching? I’m not sure there is one person who has had a huge impact. It’s more of lots of little ideas coming together to help me gradually improve.
  4. Share something funny with everyone else. I got kicked off the bus in high school. You’ll never believe why. I was always bringing home science projects and equipment, and I was clumsy and fell down the stairs of the bus a few times, so the bus drive called my mom and asked me not to ride anymore! 
  5. If you had one afternoon to “waste” on yourself and totally endulge in doing something that you love, what would it be? I’d go to a science museum with a planetarium – or if I really had enough time, I’d head to the nearest NASA center and investigate!
  6. Why should teachers, in particular, consider blogging?  Is it a burden, a pleasure, a responsibility or a privilege? I enjoy blogging because it gives me a chance to reflect and share. I’d love to be the type of blogger that inspires like my friend Krissy at Venspired
  7. What has made your heart sing the most  in the past 6 months within education? Students. The best part of education is being able to spend the days in my classroom being inspired by the amazing things my students do. And when all the other stuff gets in the way, I just remember how awesome my kids are!
  8. I’m stealing this one….if you could give your younger self advice, what would you say? Dare Mighty Things! I am so much more confident these days then I used to be. I used to avoid risks for feel of failing. After learning of Teddy Roosevelt’s Dare Mighty Things quote, I now know “It is far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those timid spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in a gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
  9. How do you find a balance between the professional and personal sides of life? I am terrible at this! I spend way too much time at school and not enough time balancing my home life and things that help me relax. I am working on it, though!
  10. Order, from greatest to least, these Masterpiece classics?  Downton Abbey, Call the Midwife,  Sherlock,  Upstairs/Downstairs Downton Abbey, Sherlock, Upstairs/Downstairs, Call the Midwife. (I could NOT get into Call the Midwife, and it may be a toss up between Downton and Sherlock.)
  11. What do you wish you’d taken in college in order to better prepare you for life, for being an adult and for being a teacher? Art classes because I wish I had some formal training. I did take a photography course with 35 mm cameras developing the film and the prints. I loved that! I was actually a psychology major with a chemistry minor and went back and took some additional chemistry classes before I even thought about teaching. Then, I went back to school to get my teaching certification. I think this roundabout way has really helped me as a teacher. I do want to get a masters and possibly doctorate one day, but I can’t decide in what, and I don’t want to pay for an education I can teach myself!

My Questions:

So, now I am supposed to generate 11 questions for 11 people to answer. I am just going to generate some questions but not nominate 11 people. If you feel like participating, please jump right in! Just leave a link to your post in the comments.

  1. What is your favorite color? Why?
  2. If you could go anywhere in the universe, where would you go?
  3. What made you decide to become an educator?
  4. Coffeehouse or Tearoom?
  5. Are you a Doctor Who fan? If yes, who is your favorite Doctor?
  6. Star Trek or Star Wars?
  7. Who is your favorite author? Why?
  8. What is the weather like today where you live?
  9. What one new thing are you planning to try in your classroom this year?
  10. What inspires you?
  11. If you were not a teacher, what would you be doing?

Okay, so I hope you’ll decide to play along. Have fun, and thanks to Marsha for challenging me!

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By Janelle

Space geek, science nerd extraordinaire. That's me! Want to know more, visit the About page.

1 comment

  1. Wow….you lead an amazing life that is familar to many teachers…dedication and love for students. Downton Abbey starts again tonight and I can hardly wait. I also didn’t know that you were so interested in art and I’m a little jealous about your ability to do the cartooning of thinking.
    Thanks for your reply. Isn’t this fun!

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