Family Pictures

The whole gang

Sisterly love

We may not have had the order quite right, but you get the idea

What a good looking couple

Tender...

just a thought....

I had my first Instructional Media class the other night. The Professor talked all about the current and future technologies that are and will be enhancing education, many of which are quite phenomenal! It only makes sense to include such technologies in the education of the students who will grow up in full of such gadgets and one day become the inventors and scientist who discover even more amazing products that haven't even been dreamed about yet. But I don't think that these high-tech computers, phones and software should replace  our current public education but should merely be used as tools to enhance it.

We watch a movie about the idea of an  "Ischool" where all subjects are taught, books are read, and teacher student communication all happens using Ipads and Iphones. We also learned that Kearns High School just started their school year with every student equipped with a Iphone and all the teachers an Ipad to do that very thing of conducting an Ischool.

As I thought about it, I felt almost sorry for future generations who will miss out on a part of education they will never get from a complete virtual education...

The part of elementary school when you get to spend 30 minutes a week wandering the library and reading the same old taped up, spine-broken books that your older brother read years before...

The part when you walk in to the library as a timid 1st grader and then triumphantly walk out having just checked out your very first library book...

The part of Junior high when you walk with your English class, then your Math class, then your Science class, and then your History class to the library to check out an overweight text book that smells funny and will probably sit in the bottom of your locker all semester...

The part of High school when you have to buy your own copy of "Cry, The Beloved Country" for your Honors English and spend weeks in class dissecting the book and gaining an appreciation for a book in other ways than another mindless book report...

The part of your education when you crack open the brand new book you bought at the Scholastic Book Fair and inhale its "new" smell then begin to read and can't put it down for hours...

It makes me sad to think there will be a time when students won't get those precious experiences because they will simply download everything onto their hand-held devices and virtually flip through pages then probably switch to some pointless game application on their Iphone.

To sum it up, real life doesn't happen on a screen that you hold in your hand. Technology is a tool for education, not a replacement. Students need to know how to interact with the real world in order to survive in it.

Okay, I'm done :)

Why is it that I set time aside to run for miles on the treadmill but when a 1 mile walk to the bookstore turns out pointless I am annoyed?

feelin' Goofy...

I can't seem to drive anywhere without listening to this song on my Ipod.

I know EVERY word.

And if I mess up on any part of the song, I just listen to it again.

I love this song! But how could you not?

Try and tell me you don't want to go watch the entire movie now... :)

$400.00 worth of text books,

3 blisters,

2 trips to UVU,

1 successful day back at school.

one year from now...

...she is going to be 16...

...and driving....

Yikes!

So this one time Gertie and I went on a walk.

Just the two of us because that Turner family all decided to get up and leave for a family reunion in Idaho. They all left Gertie and I. Well not all of the Turners went to the family reunion, Reese(he's that super stud/firefighter boyfriend of mine) decided to to stay home because he is "on call" for firefighting. Did I mention my boyfriend Reese is a firefighter? ;)

So Reese and I made plans on Friday to take my lil' sister and brother to see a movie.
We were all quite excited to go!

My plan was to come home from work on Friday and run, clean, and shower then we would be off to the movie.

I was just about to start mopping when Reese called me and informed me that he had just received a call from his squad boss saying Reese's crew was going up to Idaho where 3 new fires had started in addition to 2 others still going on.

I couldn't believe it. He was finally going out on to a fire! I jumped in the car and drove a little over the speed limit to Reese's house just in time to say goodbye and watch him drive off.

I think I have done pretty well at not worrying too much about how he is doing, what he is doing, and when he will be back. Just looking for pictures of wildfires on google was a bit too much for me. It is hard to believe he is somewhere like this...

I can't wait to here all about it when he gets back, whether that's tomorrow or in (gulp) two weeks.

But for now Gertie and I will be okay because the rest of the Turner family is back from Idaho, finally!